Paul John Devlin (born 14 April 1972) is a former footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. He made more than 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, as well as playing in the League of Ireland for Bohemians and spending several years in non-league football. He was capped ten times for the Scotland national team.
Club career
Early life and club career
Devlin was born and raised in the Erdington district of Birmingham and attended Perry Common Comprehensive School. After leaving school he trained as a chef in a hotel and on day release at college. He played youth football for Boldmere St. Michaels, St John's Celtic and Tamworth before making 12 appearances for Tamworth's first team as a teenager. Released by Tamworth in 1990, Devlin joined Armitage 90 of the Staffordshire Senior League, but was not there long; in November, Conference club Stafford Rangers paid £2000 for his services, and a 40% sell-on clause was included in the deal. He made 24 appearances (19 starts) in the 1990–91 Conference, and attracted attention from teams at a rather higher level. A lengthy trial with League runners-up Liverpool brought an offer in excess of £100,000 from manager Graeme Souness in September 1991, but Stafford Rangers turned it down. Amid interest from other top-flight clubs, Devlin had a trial with Leeds United before, in February 1992, a £60,000 bid from Notts County was accepted. He had scored 7 goals from 50 Conference matches over his 15-month spell.
Notts County
The 19-year-old Devlin signed for the First Division club on 18 February 1992. By the time he made his Football League debut, starting in a 1–0 win at home to Coventry City on 11 April, County were well on the way to relegation. By his second and last appearance of the season, second-tier football for 1992–93 was confirmed. The following season, he was gradually eased into the first team: his first league appearance was as a substitute on 26 September, he made his first league start three days later, and he was more or less a first-team regular for the next couple of months, by which time County were firmly established in the relegation places. After Warnock was replaced by Mick Walker in January 1993, Devlin returned to the starting eleven and remained in it to the end of the season. He scored his first Football League goal in a 3–3 draw away to Grimsby Town on 27 February, and scored twice more to help the team retain their second-tier status with a 17th-place finish.
In the 1993–94 season, only two outfield players made more league appearances than Devlin's 41, as the team missed out on the play-offs by one position. They also reached the final of that season's Anglo-Italian Cup. Devlin scored against Southend United in the semi-final second leg to take the tie to penalties; County won the shootout, but lost to Brescia in the final. County struggled under a succession of managers in 1994–95. Victory in that season's Anglo-Italian Cup, in which Devon White's winning header against Ascoli came from Devlin's cross. preceded relegation to the third tier. Devlin was left out of the starting eleven towards the end of the season, which as the team's top scorer he found particularly frustrating, and submitted an unsuccessful transfer request; a second request was accepted.
Following this second relegation, with the management under pressure to cut wages and generate income from transfers, there were several departures. Devlin stayed, under orders from manager Steve Thompson to learn patience"Devlin wants the ball and thinks he should have it all the time ... He's got to become less impatient when we don't get the ball out to him"and three months into the season, he had five league goals and Notts were third in the table. He remained in the team, and the team remained in contention for promotion, although his goalscoring tailed off. On 1 March 1996, Devlin and Andy Legg were sold to First Division club Birmingham City for £500,000 the pair; both the "crowd favourites" were out of contract at the end of the season. Thompson pointed out that until his goal against AFC Bournemouth three days prior, Devlin had gone 13 matches without scoring, that he was a Birmingham boy who had been well aware of the club's interest in him, and that the whole fee would go towards strengthening the team.